Simonetta Wins Right To Face Ritter Larouche Backer's Total Concerns Some Politicos

May 21, 1986|by DAVID M. ERDMAN, The Morning Call

Joseph R. Simonetta, with no local political roots and a campaign built from scratch, won the Democratic nomination in the 15th Congressional District, while a Lyndon R. LaRouche candidate's performance was cause for concern for some political officials.

The total unofficial tally for the Democratic race - just under 23,000 votes - was an indicator of the one of the poorest voter turnouts in decades.

The total - 22,981 - was less than that polled by the winning candidate alone in 1984. In that race, Jane Wells Schooley won the nomination with nearly 24,000 votes.

Simonetta emerged from the primary with 14,103 votes, saying he has the formula to beat Republican U.S. Rep. Don Ritter in the November general election. Ritter was unopposed in his bid to represent the district, which despite its 2-to-1 Democratic registration edge, has sent Ritter back to Congress for four consecutive terms.

Ritter won 13,328 votes in yesterday's GOP primary.

Simonetta reaffirmed a commitment not to take Political Action Committee contributions but said, "We are taking the campaign to the people." He said he will ask the voters: "Do you want a candidate who will represent you with no strings attached?

"Ritter will find that he hasn't faced anyone quite like me," he said after his victory. "Ritter holds an 'Ethnic Day' every year. For me, every day was ethnic day growing up in South Side Bethlehem," said Simonetta, whose father is a retired Bethlehem Steel Corp. worker and whose mother is a retired garment worker.

"Ritter talks about the military. I was in the military," said Simonetta, who was assigned to NATO in Greece. "I assembled nuclear weapons. I commanded a nuclear submarine. He talks about understanding business, but he has never met a payroll. I have started businesses from scratch.

"I know what it is to be an entrepreneur," said Simonetta, who traveled extensively in the United States on many ventures, including service as a district manager for the 1978 campaign of Democratic Gov. Richard D. Lamm of Colorado. He helped write the California Democratic Party platform on world peace in 1982. Simonetta operated a tennis clothing manufacturing company in Bradenton, Fla., and ran a restaurant in Colorado, which he sold, turning the profits over to fuel his campaign.

Simonetta placed first in Lehigh County, Northampton County and six townships Monroe County, which make up the 15th District. The Monroe townships are Chestnuthill, Eldred, Hamilton, Polk, Ross and Tunkhannock.

Trailing behind were two candidates whose campaigns were marked by a striking contrast to Simonetta's.

William R. Logue of Allentown, the LaRouche supporter, who boasted that his campaign "kicked over some hornets' nests," polled 3,626 votes, despite being bitterly rejected byparty officials in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

"If I had Simonetta's money and time, I would have beat him hands down," said Logue, a former Merchant Marine who now assembles optical equipment at Fraser Volpe Corp., Warminster. "He spent almost a year campaigning . . . he spent about $1.50 for every vote he got, while I got seven votes for every dollar I spent."

Logue said, "I'll be back next time around," saying he planned to run again in 1988. "I just have to stir the pot a little more."

Logue's turnout was cause for concern, said Northampton County Democratic Chairman Phil Ruggiero.

"The numbers for Logue surprise me," said Ruggiero, whose party executive committee organization passed a resolution "repudiating" Logue's platform as foreign from the ideals of the Democratic Party. "It seems the LaRouche candidates picked up more results than they were entitled to, much higher than I expected."

The Northampton County Party leaders said the LaRouche candidate's beliefs that the Queen of England supports drug smugglers and that Walter Mondale is a KGB agent made him foreign to the party. Lehigh County party organizations had forbidden him from speaking at party functions.

But Lehigh County party officials said the voter turnout for Logue meant they got their message across.

Logue's tally, said Lehigh County Democratic Party Chairman Glenn Moyer, "was a repudiation of the platform of Lyndon LaRouche and his candidates."

"We are now going to take the fight to Don Ritter," Moyer added.

John Larmer, a member of the Lehigh County Democratic Party executive committee and county coordinator for Edward G. Rendell's campaign for governor, said the party office yesterday had received 22 telephone calls about LaRouche candidates. "They called asking if we could identify who the LaRouche candidates were on the ballot because they said they didn't want to vote for them," Larmer said.